Rated as the most successful captain in international cricket, MS Dhoni recently joined his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The skipper of CSK is all set to don the yellow jersey again as the IPL 2020 is ready to begin from March 29.
CSK’s official twitter handle shared a video of Dhoni taking guard during a practice session, which went viral on social media. In the video, the crowd can be seen cheering for their favorite player.
Former India skipper, who has three IPL trophies to his name, gave credit to his franchise, CSK, for teaching him how to stay humble and helping him improve as a cricketer as well as a human being.
“This journey started in 2008, CSK has helped me improve in everything whether it was being a human being or being a cricketer, handling situations that are tough both in and out of the field and how to be humble once you are doing well,” said Dhoni during Star Sports’ show ‘Return of the Lion’.
Dhoni also revealed that whenever he travels in southern India, fans don’t address him by his name; instead, they always call him ‘Thala’ – which means brother.
“Thala’ basically means brother, so for me, it’s more the abstract of the fans; the love and affection towards me is the reflection of that. Whenever I am in Chennai or down South, they never call me by my name. They address me as ‘Thala,’ and the moment someone calls me Thala, they are showing their love and respect, but at the same time, he is a CSK fan,” the 38-year-old added.
The Ranch-born cricketer has played 190 games in IPL, thus far, in which he has accumulated 4432 runs – fifth most by an Indian batsman. Dhoni has smashed 209 sixes in the lucrative league, which is the maximum by an Indian player and third overall.
The inaugural match of IPL 2020 will take place between CSK and their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
